All,
Ok, I got some good sleep in last night and am back and recharged like an SLA:
First and foremost, it was great meeting all of you Audio Circle members!
Some of you I've met in the past (e.g., NY Audio Ravers), and some of you were new faces.
I even had the opportunity to meet some of my customers that I don't see here on AC, so that was also a very nice experience.
I also had the chance to meet a few AC manufacturers: Wayne1 from Bolder Cable and Steve from Empirical Audio ... both were great guys and a pleasure to speak with. I really appreciated how they made the time to stop by and meet me in the Red Wine/Omega Room. There were other manufacturers that I wish I made the time to meet, but I'm sure I will at the next show
I even got to meet plenty of reviewers.
Thanks to all who stopped over to say hi and give a listen!
Moving onto the equipment:
THE SPEAKERS:
The Omega HempTones and Aperiodic 8s were the star attractions. There was plenty of swappin' going on between these two great speakers. We also switched over to the new Omega M5s. These feature a new little 5" full range driver in a small enclosure the size of the Super 3 (using the narrow side for the driver, and a big ol' power port in the rear). The M5 had a surprisingly awesome bass response and power handling capacity for its small size. I liked it better than the Grande 6s (not at the show) in every way!
THE SOURCES:
The most used were the Red Wine Modded Squeezebox 2 and the 60Gb iPod featuring the iMod. We did a few shootouts with AC members present (feel free to chime in you guys!). Here was the general consensus:
They were very close! The iMod had a slightly sweeter top end, a slightly warmer midrange, and a tad less bass "punch." The modded SB2 was slightly more forward and detailed, with a little more punch in the low end. Again, these were very close and there was no clear winner. It call comes down to taste in sound, and synergy with other components. Using the Lotus preamp/amp and the Omega A8s (my babies), I preferred the modded iPod
slightly more. There, you made me say it!
I cannot forget the kick butt turntable that was in the room (yes, there was Vinyl in our room and it sounded damn good too!). Tom Hills of Hudson Audio Imports brought a beautiful Eurolab turntable, Moerch tonearm and cartridge. The motor was powered by a custom Red Wine 12V SLA power supply, as was the battery modded Black Cube phonostage. Come on guys, I said our room was going to be off the grid and I meant it!
All interconnects and speaker cables were AudioPath/OmegAudio (Tom Hills) and sounded great with our equipment.
THE LOTUS GEAR:
I really appreciated all the positive comments about the Lotus Passive Preamp and Power Amp. Many were surprised that it was only a 6-watt amp, and many thought it was one of the most "not solid-state sounding" solid state amp. "Tube-like sound, but with some seriously good dynamics and tight n' tuneful bass response, and the blackest background..." were the kinds of feedback we were getting. Of course Louis of Omega gets the credit from the fantastic build quality and appearance.
UPCOMING REVIEWS:
At the end of the show, the Lotus gear, Omega A8's, modded SB2, and Skyland Stands were shipped off to Michael Lavorgna of 6moons for review. I also had to chance to meet Jay Fisher of the Robb Report in person, and he mentioned that the upcoming Lotus / Zu Definition / Cyberlight Cable review will hit the newsstands in just a few weeks! He was very impressed with the combo!
The Hemptones are being reviewed in JazzTimes...will be out soon as well.
I'll have to post more later, but just wanted to thank everyone again for coming and making our show a success and a lot of fun!
Cheers, mates!
